I wanted to go to the Fall Festival at Newport News Park. Penny was enthusiastic, and Alex is always happy to get out of the house, so it seemed like a good idea. I even thought to pack lunches, so we wouldn't have to guess at carbs for Penny or points for me.
Walking up to the festival, though, routed us straight through a playground. Alex saw the swings, and from that point forward, all he wanted was to go back to them. Have I mentioned that he's starting in on Two-ish behavior? Yeah. There was a lot of sobbing and crying and whining until Matt gave up and took him to a playground to swing.
And Penny wasn't too keen on the crafts that I wanted to look at, and she didn't want to stay in the kids' area while I wandered around to look at stuff. She had fun in the kids' area, at least -- did some crafts and got some free takeaways. But I'd been hoping to wander more. I've found some really cute things, in previous years. But by the time Penny was done with the kids' area, Alex was in a near-continuous state of meltdown, and we decided to just give up and head home.
Alex fell asleep in the car about halfway home, unsurprisingly. And then, having had a ten-minute nap in the car, he completely refused to take any more nap once we got home. Matt took him along to the comic store in the afternoon, and he fell asleep again, but once again refused to nap at home.
You know what kind of mood you get out of a toddler who's had two ten-minute naps? A Very Bad Mood, that's what. The rest of the evening was horrible. We gave up on the notion of going out to eat for dinner and got takeout instead. And then the takeout place forgot my soup, and the thing I'd ordered was not remotely appetizing. (I don't even know why I ordered it. I can't blame that part on the restaurant. Seriously - I don't like spicy food, I don't like peppers, I don't like mushrooms, and I'm not the biggest fan of spinach salads. So why would I order a chili-lime chicken spinach salad with peppers and mushrooms? Major brainfail.)
The only unalloyed good thing about Saturday was that Penny pestered me to keep my promise that we could decorate for Hallowe'en. I started out feeling like it was yet another chore, but her enthusiasm was contagious. We hung streamers and various doodads all over the house, and by the time it was done, I wanted more.
Sunday was some better, though Alex continued to demonstrate his near-Twoness for us. But I took a trip to Target to pick up a couple of things and wound up buying more Hallowe'en decorations while I was at it.
And a costume, too, which was a triumph in itself -- I haven't been able to buy an off-the-shelf costume since I was still trick-or-treating. (There were the no-money years, and then there were the fat years.) I was so excited to be able to buy a costume that I wanted to buy about four of them. It took me a long time to decide. I thought about a fairy costume so Penny and I could match, but the adult fairy costumes are -ahem- short, and proud as I am of my lost weight, the skin on my legs is still kind of... saggy and baggy and not really what I want to be showing off. Same problem with the pirate wench costume. The tavern wench costume had a long skirt, but didn't really appeal. The snow queen costume was gorgeous, but looked hot. The Cleopatra costume was pretty, too, but I didn't think Penny would get the reference, and since she's about 85% of the reason I'm getting a costume in the first place... no go. I finally settled on a Gothic robe and told Penny I was going to be a witch, only without the pointy hat. She was very impressed by the spiderweb detailing.
It seems slightly ridiculous to buy a Hallowe'en costume just to have something to wear while I stay at home and hand out candy -- there isn't even a chance of wearing it to a party or to work, since Hallowe'en is on a Saturday this year. But I'm okay with being slightly ridiculous, if it'll keep this odd sense of enthusiasm going.
Who knows? Maybe I'll even be inspired to decorate for Christmas, this year.
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